


The Tale of the Black Chocobo

by his-spare-hats (JesterFesta)



Series: Tales that remained untold [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, Healer!Ardyn, I want that chocobo, Not Romance, Those were the times, ardyn week, happy Ardyn, just think of how he could have been, shield!gilgamesh, young!ardyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 00:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JesterFesta/pseuds/his-spare-hats
Summary: These are the tales of a man who has always given but never received what his heart desired most. The tales of a man who was wronged and accused ending up as the beast people believed him to be.They are the tales of Ardyn.A little bit of random Ardyn background I thought of in the past couple of days, long before Noctis was born.





	The Tale of the Black Chocobo

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my entry for Day 1 of Ardyn week - Past Life as a Healer.  
> It's nothing big but I feel like this fandom has been concerned with the daemon Ardyn became for too long and I believe we need some more past-Ardyn. An Ardyn that could smile and laugh without it being at the cost of others.
> 
> I don't know much about Eos yet, I have to say, so...things I write might not completely fit with the setting of the game. I'm trying, yes? o^o  
> Please enjoy, it's soft and warm in here.

“Hurry, you're too slow!” The young man shouted from approximately thirty meters ahead, a sneer on his face framed with wine-colored hair. His fingers tugged on the brim of his black fedora to prevent it from falling off.

“If you were carrying all this stuff _with_ me instead of running ahead, we would be able to move much faster.”

“That would be inappropriate. Just imagine the Healer having to carry his own luggage as though he was of no importance at all.” His bangs fell over his left eye but that did not hide his mockery as he stared at the heavily loaded man in armor in front of him. Their staring contest lasted for a couple of seconds before the younger threw his hands in the air. “Come on, Gilgamesh, just view it as training. For honor and all that stuff you keep talking about.”

The man in armor, Gilgamesh, sighed from the bottom of his heart. “The 'honor and all that stuff' you are referring to are values not only  _I_ but  _you_ should as well strive to attain,  _young master_ ”, he replied dryly, dumping one of the heavier bags on the one he was expected to obey. 

“I hate it when you call me that”, the other shot back with a hiss, visibly struggling to throw the bag over his shoulder. “It feels like I am being called out.”

“Well, excuse me, Ardyn Lucis Caelum the Healer, protector of Eos and everything man has yet to discover”, Gilgamesh sneered with the hint of a smile only to have the young master groan.

“This is getting worse by the second. You are doing this on purpose aren't you, my friend?”

“You think?”

They chuckled for a couple of seconds, then fell back into comfortable silence interrupted by occasional grunts coming from the Healer whenever he tried to shift the bag's weight a little. Gilgamesh could not have cared less, telling the young master to view it as training. “For honor and all that stuff?”, the struggling man huffed and his companion nodded with a satisfied smile.

“For honor and all that stuff. It's important for your future as well as that of all of-”

“Wait, wait, did you hear that?”

“Ardyn, you're supposed to be the superior here but as a friend I don't appreciate you changing the topic when I am about to-”

“Here hold this for me, I'll check on that.”

Gilgamesh looked at the bag that was being handed back to him with an expression of zero to no amusement. “You believe I would actually buy that? H-hey!” Before he knew it, Ardyn had already dumped the bag onto the ground and headed off towards some bush. “You can't just run-” Then he heard it. A quiet hissing sound and a lot of chirping.  _Chocobos?_ He was about to go after Ardyn when a group of four little chocobo chicks broke through the thicket, chirping in alarm. “Ardyn?”

There was no reply, so the man in armor tugged his silver hair behind his ears to make sure they would not get stuck on sticks or twigs and started making his way past bushes and trees. It was not long until he reached a small clearing where the Healer was crouching, just dumping his hat on something within arm's reach. “What exactly-”

“Shht”, Ardyn hushed him, quickly turning the hat over and pressing a hand onto whatever was inside it to make sure it would not flee. Gilgamesh just stood at the edge of the clearing with his head slightly tilted to the side as he listened to the younger's hushed whispers. “You're alright. Don't worry, I'm here now. I'll help you, so keep still, will y- ow! Gil, it bit me! How rude, I'm not the bad guy here.”

“Considering you just dumped a hat on it, plunging it into deepest darkness, you might want to reconsider that statement”, Gilgamesh mumbled stepping closer when the smell hit him. “A daemon?”

“Not a daemon”, Ardyn replied quietly with a shake of his head while he pressed his hand against the hissing creature's chest. “A chocobo.”

It was only then that Gilgamesh could identify the black bundle in the hat as the down feather covered body of a little chick. “But it is- Is it...?”

“Infected? Yes, but I believe the vanishing disease has taken over not too long ago as it is still pretty close to what chocobos, well, look like. I will- hey, cut it out, will you?” It was always interesting to see Ardyn deal with those infected, be it a human or an animal. His whole character, the mask of mockery he was wearing most of the time, would just fall off and all that remained was a young man in love with watching people heal thanks to him. Gilgamesh remembered the early days when he was not yet meant to become the young master's Shield and they were just friends without responsibilities to take care of. 

 

“ _Okay, so just assuming I actually_ am _chosen for this task”, Ardyn started over for the umpteenth time and his friend was only able to sigh from the bottom of his heart. This had been going on for half an hour now. “What if I make a mistake? Or...or the ring decides otherwise because it was wrong about this? You know, that is a possibility, is it not?”_

“ _Calm down, the ring was given to our people by the_ Astrals _. Do you doubt the Astrals right now?”_

“ _What, no! No but just imagine-” And that was how it would go on and on._

 

He had always worried about not being of use to anybody. He was a man of words, not one of the sword and to many that was a deficiency.  _But look at you now_ , Gilgamesh thought as he crouched down to watch the chosen one,  _everything played out fine. I knew you were meant for more._

He remembered the restrictions Ardyn's father had enforced on them only when the young man raised his hand and a bright aura formed reaching out to the screeching chocobo like sunlight. “Wait, Ardyn, your father-” But it was too late anyway. Black dust ascended from the bird's round body and the sun rays emerging from the Healer's hand exchanged places with it. Gilgamesh had seen this happen before but it never ceased to amaze him beyond words. Ardyn's fingertips changed color, looking like coal, lifeless and threatening to fall apart by the slightest gust of wind.

And then it was over. The chocobo chick got healed calming down immediately but its color remained gone. Never would it be of the bright yellow color again, the disease had turned its feathers dark and beak pointed. Only a little bit later and Ardyn would have had to absorb all of it, they had passed just at the right time.

“Go play with your brothers, go ahead!”, Ardyn encouraged the little bird, taking it out of his hat and motioning for it to return to the path they had been wandering on only minutes ago. It looked back at him for a couple more seconds before jumping up in happiness and dashing off into the thicket with its savior's eyes on it. Gilgamesh chewed on the inside of his cheek, about to open his mouth to say something when Ardyn's voice cut through the silence.

“I know what you are going to say and I am not in favor of going through your scolding. You didn't see a thing.” He hid his hand in his pocket knowing very well that his father was to get mad at him for having used his powers on yet another 'useless creature.' “The color is going to fade in a minute anyway, let's not think about my father, yes?”

“As a friend, I want to let this slide. But I am loyal to the Lucis Caelums. I swore an oath. How am I supposed to keep this a secret, I know he will ask.”

“First of all, you have sworn loyalty to _me_ as a placeholder for the family. If _I_ say you did not see a thing, there is nothing any other Lucis Caelum can do about that, do you not agree?”, he stated while dusting off his hat and moving towards the thicket motioning for Gilgamesh to go ahead. “I will gladly follow the path you make for your future King, Shield.”

“Sure you will”, the other groaned entering the thicket first to push twigs and thorns out of his way, more carefully this time to make sure Ardyn would be able to follow him easily.

“I could get used to ordering you around. Now all that is left is having you call me Your Majesty. Will you do me that favor?”

_To think that this guy whined about maybe not being the right person only a couple of months ago_ , Gilgamesh thought with a roll of his eyes,  _accidentally_ letting go of a twig too early so it hit Ardyn right in the face and he had to pick up his fedora with some indignant utterances. “I will save that until the day you actually get crowned, Ardyn Lucis Caelum the Hea-”  
“Alright, alright, I get it. I can dream, can I not?”, the shorter male interrupted and they found back to their path with smiles on their faces.

“Dream on, laughingstock.”

Their chatter subsided when their eyes fell on the group of chocobo chicks Gilgamesh had seen earlier. They were still moving in panic and it was easy to see why. Whenever the now healed black chick approached them they would retreat further, keeping their distance the same at all times. They just turned away until the outcast gave up and the two men had been watching for a while. 

Gilgamesh turned towards Ardyn to suggest moving on but the look in the younger's eyes told the Shield what was to come and he shook his head in advance. “Oh no, we will not-”

“Come on, Gil, _look_ at him! He will be lonely just because he is different. I understand him and he needs a friend, you should know that best. I might not be a chocobo but-”

“Let's save time, you will not back down anyway. Go catch it and we're off. Since you are the King to be they will let you keep it anyway.”

“But I- Wait, really? Oh wow, now do not say that like it is something bad. And after all you are right, I am not yet enthroned so I should watch what I am doing.”

“You are a royal, bloody hell. Go ahead. I could not hold you back and we're good.”

“Royal? Oh, please”, Ardyn retorted after having picked up the black chocobo with ease and turning around with a fond smile.

“I am just a man of no consequence.”

 

 


End file.
